Training for Trans Madeira, the hardest mountain bike enduro race, in 3 weeks...

Hello everyone,

today I want to share with you how I trained for one of the hardest mountain bike enduro races, the Trans Madeira, in three weeks.

Quick facts on the race: 5 days duration | 242 km | 7000 meters of elevation | 16400 m of descent | 30 stages

My training can be categorized into three dimensions: Endurance focused rides, downhill focused rides and strength training.

As I usually work as a strategy consultant with long working hours during the work week I usually focus on indoor strength training and my stationary bike but for the Trans Madeira I took three weeks off in advance to fully focus on getting ready. So, I always keep a decent base level of fitness as best as possible with my demanding job but if you're in a similar situation and want to perform at whatever race I can only recommend this strategy (if manageable with your employer etc. of course).

In my 3 week period I trained on average on 5-6 days per week with roughly the following weekly split as orientation:

• 2-3 days with endurance focus (trail rides included but no particular focus) | 20-40 km, 500-1000 meters of elevation | Example:
  

• 2-3 days with Downhill focus on my light E-mountainbike or in the bike park (focus on descending) | also 20-40 km, 600-1200 m elevation | Example:
  

• On 2-3 days I added strength training to the rides with a focus on athletic strength (Freeletics style workouts are an excellent baseline) | Duration usually between 45 min - 1h 30 | Example:

  
  

For the downhill focused days I also prioritized longer descents and trails such as the Canadian trail in Freiburg im Breisgau to simulate long enduro stages.

For my strength training, as briefly described, I emphasized compound athletic movements such as jumping lunges, superman push ups and pull ups and used my weight vest quite a lot. Also, on some days I mixed it all up and combined an uphill push with fast trail rides to simulate a typical enduro stage day.

In the end, especially for my first enduro race and competition in a while, my strategy paid out well for my expectations as I managed to win 2 stages and placed 37th out of 50 in my age class (DNFs included). I lost significant amount of time on day 4 and 5 though due to a mechanical issue but I will get into detail on gear for the race in my next blog post.

Happy to hear your experiences and exchange insights! Thank you for taking your time reading this post.

All the best and cheers, Benedikt